Send this to a friend

Firefighters Local 1 President Joe King says the Highmark-UPMC situation could delay a contract arbitration ruling.

Kris B. Mamula

(Page 3 of 4)

Now, King said he expects the Highmark-UPMC spat to delay settlement of the arbitration issue.

The firefighters’ contract expires in 2013 and covers 1,600 members and their families.

Under the contract, most firefighters have a 80-20 payment split for out of network providers, which means union members pay 20 cents of every dollar charged for medical care, and King said he expected the split to continue through the end of their labor agreement with the city, regardless of what happens with the Highmark-UPMC talks. Highmark may have to swallow the losses, he said.

“What … happens to the contract?” King said. “Now, the whole thing is disrupted.

“This thing is a mess.”

In the meantime, health insurance brokers say they are being swamped with calls about the Highmark-UPMC contract.

Inquiries to the call center at Wexford-based JRG Advisors LLC, for example, have doubled to 2,000 a week during the past two weeks, said CEO Rick Galardini.

“Something has to give here,” he said about the contract talks.

Bill Asay, president of Downtown-based Mockenhaupt Benefits Group, which administers the Municipal Employees Insurance Trust for some 6,500 members statewide, said he, too, received “numerous inquiries” about the Highmark-UPMC talks.

“It’s way too early to tell,” how it’s going to end, Asay said, “but it’s being tracked very closely.”

Contract talks between Highmark and UPMC broke down several months ago, and the stalemate took a turn for the worse June 14 when UPMC unexpectedly announced it would not renew a contract that allows Highmark members to see UPMC doctors.

Industries:

Comments

If you are commenting using a Facebook account, your profile information may be displayed with your comment depending on your privacy settings. By leaving the 'Post to Facebook' box selected, your comment will be published to your Facebook profile in addition to the space below.